Thе GMC CCKW was a 2½ ton 6×6 US Army cargo truck that saw heavy service in both World War II and the Korean War. The original "Deuce and a Half", it formed the backbone of the famed Red Ball Express that kept Allied armies supplied as they pushed eastward after the Normandy invasion.

The CCKW came in many variants, including open or closed cab, long wheel base (LWB 353) and short (SWB 352), and over a score of specialized models. It began to be phased out with the deployment of the 6×6 M35 in 1950, but remained in active US service until the mid-1960s.

By the end of production in 1945, 562,750 CCKWs in all variants had been built, a total second only to the “Jeep” ...the “Jeep”!!!!

Our objective is to accurately create the CCKW will the following specifications:

- a 2 sprue plastic kit in 1/56 (28mm) scale- option for a folded down windshield- option for a MG gun ring- option with and without front winch- optional canvas top for the driver cabin- optional canvas top for the rear trunk in open and close condition- rear truck tailgate in open and close condition

Remember the 50 cal was to be used for anti aircraft protection, the fact that it chewed up soft skin vehicles and troops was a bonus . So the gunner would be lower in the truck with the barrel pointed sky ward, and the ring mount made tracking aircraft much easier than a post mount . By the time these vehicles got into combat in Europe the Luftwaffe was hardly the threat it was in the Blitzkrieg . In fact if you look at most US WW2 vehicles , you'll notice the machine guns are mounted this way . A lot of British/ Canadian tankers removed the 50 from the Sherman as it was not needed for aircraft and it clogged the hatch if you had to bail out . That's where all the Canadian Universal carriers got their 50s from Note : your 1st picture is a Vietnam/ Grenada era MUTT jeep not WWW2

I'm not sure the relative dimensions are correct. I think the .50 cal gunner stood higher than that. Here's a sequence showing a relatively petite woman firing the .50 cal on a GMC - even allowing for the ring out being lower than it should be, it still looks as though an average man could fire the weapon while standing on the seat.

A lot of British/ Canadian tankers removed the 50 from the Sherman as it was not needed for aircraft and it clogged the hatch if you had to bail out . That's where all the Canadian Universal carriers got their 50s from

Actually, the Canadians seem to have liked their .50 cals. British doctrine was to remove them because AA defence was supposed to be handed by specialised vehicles, but you still see some on British Shermans in Normandy. 3rd RTR (part of 11th Armoured) traded their .50 cals with 8th Armoured Brigade, who fitted them to their Carriers and Scout Cars.